The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre in Moscow Le Musée Juif Et Le Centre Pour La Tolérance De Moscou Het Joodse Museum En Centrum Voor Tolerantie in Moskou

Témoigner. Entre histoire et mémoire Revue pluridisciplinaire de la Fondation Auschwitz

118 | 2014 Au nom des victimes. Dictature et terreur d'État en Argentine, Chili et Uruguay

The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre in Moscow Le musée juif et le centre pour la tolérance de Moscou Het Joodse Museum en Centrum voor Tolerantie in Moskou

Ewa Bérard

Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/1226 DOI: 10.4000/temoigner.1226 ISSN: 2506-6390

Publisher: Éditions du Centre d'études et de documentation Mémoire d'Auschwitz, Éditions Kimé

Printed version Date of publication: 1 October 2014 Number of pages: 12-15 ISBN: 978-2-84174-674-3 ISSN: 2031-4183

Electronic reference Ewa Bérard, « The Jewish Museum and Tolerance Centre in Moscow », Témoigner. Entre histoire et mémoire [Online], 118 | 2014, Online since 01 October 2015, connection on 23 October 2020. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/1226 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/temoigner.1226

without contest, is the virtual scroll of THE JEWISH MUSEUM the Torah that unfolds at the desired speed from the pressure of an electro- AND TOLERANCE CENTRE nic stick. How was the history of the Jews IN MOSCOW in the empire (1775-1917), then in the USSR (1918-1991) conceived? It was necessary to find a consensual version of this tortuous past, and also, to VISIT Created at the initiative of Dov-Ber-Pinhos Berez Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia respect the ideological imperatives. since 1999, the Jewish Museum in Moscow opened its doors in November 2012. The first director of the Museum and The inauguration took place in the presence of the president of Israel, Shimon Peres, of the Centre, Nathalie Fichman, was and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergei Lavrov. clear. Indeed, the Museum’s vocation was not to bear witness to “the Soviet anti-Semitism” (sic): “We will not shed tears for ourselves. It is not about exposing our offences; it is he Museum was established through pri- fixed on both sides of the wall provide more detailed about showing how we lived, how our vate funding, subsidies from the Russian information. country’s history shaped us and how government and from the Federation of the The Museum’s ambition is to go beyond the tradi- we shaped its history.”

Jewish communities of Russia, an inheritor of tional “museum” aspect and to arouse interest in its The timeline leads to a map of the Bérard © Ewa THabad, an ancient Hasidic movement that prospered technological performance, “unique in Russia”, we “zone of residence” and the Kingdom _ Inside the museum. on the eastern stairs of the Russian empire. President are told. It aims to be a place of distraction, capable of of Poland (although at the time of the census, it was Putin gave one month of his salary to the funds of the attracting young people. The conception of the design only called the “Vistula Country”), which shows the Museum. was therefore trusted to Ralf Appelbaum’s American percentage of Jews among the population and the time and to follow, with headphones and a small screen, Whilst Moscow is disfigured by turgid and monu- agency, known for its realization of the Holocaust intensity of the pogroms. The sequence dedicated to the biographies of remarkable men. mental constructions, the building of the Museum (a Museum in Washington. Visitors only encounter the 18th century is very clear on the Polish origin of The following section is entitled “War and Revolu- former bus depot on the Bakhmetev street) protected screens during the tour: big, small, medium-sized, most Russian Jews, annexed in virtue of the divisions tion, 1914-1921, 1921-1941”. On the big screen the docu- its silhouette. Conceived by Konstantin Melnikov and flat, curved, at times interactive, at other times in 3D, in Poland, and on their culture inherited from the mentaries on the acts of violence committed by the Vladimir Shukhov in 1926-1927, this jewel of Construc- accompanied by written or audio legends. Artefacts are Commonwealth of Poland (even though it was kept German army, the scene of the revolutions of February tivism placed at the heart of the old Jewish neighbour- relegated to the space dedicated to temporary exhibi- quiet that Polish Jews enjoyed the security of people, and October 1917, the civil war and the pogroms “more hood Marina Rochtcha, was placed, in 1997, on the list tions, at the periphery of the three circles. What makes service and commerce). cruel than the pogroms of Khmelnitsky” (but the pro- of monuments to be privatized and given by the town this universe of screens completely surrealist, are the The section “Towns and beyond. 1795-1913” opens grammatic anti-Semitism of the Whites is erased) are to the community Centre, whose president at the time poet Iossif Brodski’s words, engraved above… the onto a large photo of an urban artery, a slightly sur- projected. Difficult questions are raised: the “zone of was the oligarch Roman Abramovitch. It was indeed Museum boutique: “The objects that we produce with prising symbol of life as a Jew in the 19th century, yet residence” is finally abolished, Jews obtain civil rights. very close to being disfigured, but the intervention of our hands say more about us than our confessions.” which immediately presents the central thesis: urba- They owe everything to the revolution, and the stereo- public and professional opinions allowed the damage Admittedly, we won’t find any more “confessions” than nization, assimilation, social ascent. We see an “instal- types are tenacious which present them as profiting to be limited. “products made with our hands” here. Craft workers lation” with coffee tables and the same white plaster from the revolution, clever to quickly rise up to the The exhibition space is organized according to a and people of the Book are no longer. They have been figures which are supposed to embody Simon Doubnov, governing bodies of the Bolshevik apparatus and to its circular plan. A centre with a double core is surroun- erased before a virtual people. Sholem Aleikhem and a few other personalities from organs of terror. On the screen, the voice of a specialist ded by walls forming two concentric circles: the “great The “shtetl” space is in this regard exemplary. urban Jewish culture. On the wall, a “Chronicle of the from across the Atlantic explains that with the seizure Jewish cosmos” – cradle of Judaism, ancient Hebrews Indeed, visitors are here invited to dress up in virtual events” proposes themes such as Haskalah (Jewish of power by the Bolsheviks, the Jews “were faced with and the first Diaspora – and a “small cosmos” – the traditional Jewish costumes, to touch virtual herrings Lights), Jewish press, cultural awakening, assimilation, the difficult dilemma: to adapt or to disappear”. We Shtetl. Upon the wall that surrounds them are projec- floating in real barrels, to recognize their ancestors pogroms, emigration, political branches, new religious wonder what choice was offered to the other peoples in ted photos illustrating the “living Judaism”, its rites among plaster figures, like the one who is sat on a tendencies, etc. For he who is taken aback in front of so the USSR… In the same way as other believers, Jews, as and its precepts. A second wall, further removed from bench at a synagogue, immersed in the reading of the much information (although the famous anti-Semitic we are told, were summoned to abandon their religious the centre, creates with the first wall a hallway where Book, their head covered with the Tallit (inexplicably hoax, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, could have practices though, thanks to their level of higher educa- a timeline is organized. At the back, large rooms are forgotten, this old Jew in plaster is not interactive found its place), a lucky find (still virtual) entitled tion, they quickly achieved their social ascent, namely each reserved to a different historical period. Parapets and does not swing from side to side). The best find, “Jewish destinies” allows one to enter into individual within the new intellectual and professional elite. l l l

12 Getuigen tussen geschiedenis en herinnering – nr. 118 / September 2014 Testimony between history and memory – n°118 / September 2014 13 Kroniek Logbook

l l l We begin to grasp the function of the big screen occupier. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC), As we progress further toward the present day, the which each section is equipped with: it must, whatever created in 1942, is present yet without mentioning its past is reduced to anecdotes. To talk about the Soviet the cost, inscribe Jewish history within Russian gene- worldwide vocation nor the assassination, ordered by Jews of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, there is no map of ralities, erase the conflicts, sever all urge to shed tears Stalin, of its two initiators, Henryk Erlich and Victor the emigration, no mention of the cultural production, or to feel proud – except when it is legitimate for the Adler, Polish Jews. The visitors can see the cover of the no trace of the samizdat, not to mention, of course, the great people of the USSR. A coffee table in the shape of famous Black Book with the names of both authors, State repression and anti-Semitism. There are only a five pointed star embodies this young Soviet nation; Ehrenbourg and Grossman, yet its origin (it is Albert two screens. The first one, in 3D, presents a Muscovite on its interactive surface, as if lost in space, portraits Einstein, in the name of the Committee of Jewish Ame- apartment where two young people are exchanging of Jewish personalities evolve: when it is at the level of rican artists, writers and scientists, who proposed to Jewish jokes on their own people as a young woman the visitor, we can press it and the personality’s short the JAC to publish a book on the fate of the Jews in lifts from a box gifts sent by parents settled in the US. biography appears. occupied countries) and its end will remain unknown. On the second one, a group of Jews are clandestinely We approach the room dedicated to the Great The commentary of the Museum claims that the Black meeting in a forest to encourage, in a community spi- Patriotic War, 1941-1945: the most vast of all rooms, Book was “denied publication”. This is a euphemism: rit, the sporting activities of their children. The young plunged in darkness, with a screen that allows several the leads, as well as all the printing equipment of the generation grows up, healthy in body and in mind. projections simultaneously. Images of the Wehrmacht’s Der Emes publishing house, were ransacked by a com- The visit is finished – or just about. There is still offensive on the western territories of the USSR, aban- mando of the NKVD, the ordeal destroyed. the “Tolerance Centre”. I am explained that its acti- doned by the Soviet army, are projected; the reasons of The post-war period, of State anti-Semitism which vities take the form of workshops. What is discussed this retreat are not mentioned. The sequences taken can only be compared to the period of Hitler’s Germany during these times? Do questions about the current at Babi Yar follow. Terrible, painful and crushing long in the 1930s, is confined to a small room without any news that preoccupy Russian society, such as the atti- moments. Yet the war continues, we approach Stalin- auxiliary computer device on the walls. At the entrance, tude toward people with a “sexual orientation outside grad, well-known sights, deafening explosion sounds, a panel announces: “The Period of the troubles: 1940s- of the norm” or Asian migrants, find therein room the glory of the victors, songs, and once again scenes 1950s”. In Russian historiography, this expression to be raised? The person responsible for the Centre of battles and forced marches, this time in direction traditionally pertains to the power vacuum in the 17th answers no, these questions do not concern her insti- of Berlin. The soldiers traverse the burnt villages of century, when the country was still subjected to usur- tution. Shocked, she offers me two brochures. We learn Belarus and Lithuania. And the canonical photos of the pers and foreign armies. By dint of silencing the name that the workshops are designed for school children. Battle of Berlin and of Dresden destroyed (subtlety of of the Guide, the historical vision, inevitably, becomes They fulfil the criteria set by the State’s educational the apposition!). Then we see the days immediately fol- muddled. programs. Among the goals to be reached “on a per- lowing the victory: we return to the scenes of the Babi On the back wall – in small dimensions – a photo sonal level” lies: “Motivation and orientation of the Yar massacre, where hundreds of thousands of victims of the underground cells of the Lubyanka Building. active and creative participation in the life of the were not given the right to the Kaddish nor even to a Five pillars each equipped with a screen present to society and of the State. Motivation and orientation

mention of their Jewish identity on the commemora- Bérard © Ewa the visitors in a disorderly sequence: (1) a photo of of the values, founded upon the ideas of patriotism, tive plaque. We seek in vain the reasons for this new Andrei Jdanov, with a caption on his famous report love and respect for the Homeland and of the recogni- _ Map of the pogroms at the beginning of the misfortune that struck the Jews. Something, someone, chronological circuit, showing the percentage of Jews dating from August 1946 which launched the “cam- tion of equal rights of nations and the particularity of is missing from this ribbon of images: of course, yes, it among the population and the intensity of the pogroms. paign against cosmopolitans”; (2) the photos of the different cultures.” So is it here, within this education is Stalin. The great Stalin only appeared on screen for thirteen members of the JAC who were shot; (3) the on “tolerance” which is in fact merely the conditioning a second, presiding the parade of 8 November 1941 on photo of Solomon Mikhoels, president of the JAC, with to the State’s social engineering and discipline, that we the Red square. The Generalissimo who carried the by Vassili Grossman. The interests of both parties of a caption on his assassination in January 1948 and the will find the key to understand this astounding version Soviet people to victory, who saved the lives of millions the Museum worked together in this avoidance stra- beginning of the “State anti-Semitism and repression of the history of Soviet Jews? A version which seems to of Soviet Jews and several from other countries (when tegy: Putin’s doxa, that in advance excludes everything of Jewish organisations and intelligentsia” period; (4) have gained Muscovites’ support, for many have retur- he did not hand them over to the Gestapo or did not that may uphold the image of the Great Patriotic War, the announcement of the creation of the Israeli State ned for a second visit. Fascinated by the performance have them shot), is basically absent from this narrative. a fortiori a comparison of Stalin and Hitler’s regimes in May 1947, with the support of Andrei Gromyko, at of the high-tech gadgets, the same intellectuals who It is not about smoothing over the rough edges any- (the main lines of Grossman’s novel), and Habad, who the rostrum of the United Nations. The caption talks of denounce, indignant, the return of Soviet practices more. A veil of silence enshrouds the one who, starting has no reason to honour the culture of secular Soviet the “feeling of pride” this event “awoke in the hearts of within history textbooks, seemingly willingly abandon from the victory in Stalingrad, became the organizer Jews, having become communists. many Soviet Jews”, but is very careful not to compare all form of critical reflection. ❚ of the State’s anti-Semitism and of the chauvinistic Disconcerted by this truncated history, we turn the cruel elimination of Jewish institution and leaders; Ewa Bérard, October 2013 Russian propaganda. toward the explanatory panels. Yes, the Molotov-Rib- (5) the headline of a newspaper – anonymous! – that With Stalin absent, the Museum is not in a posi- bentrop Pact is mentioned, as well as the consequences announces “the affair of the doctors in white coats”. tion to offer a shelter to the work that crystallizes the for the Polish Jews. Yes, there is mention of the ghet- On these five pillars, Stalin’s name only appears once. The full (French) version of this text will be published Jewish experience of the war: the novel Life and Fate tos and of the local population’s collaboration with the His photo, never. in the Revue des Études slaves.

14 Getuigen tussen geschiedenis en herinnering – nr. 118 / September 2014 Testimony between history and memory – n°118 / September 2014 15